Names on the buses

817 Lord Olivier

435 Lord Olivier

Connections with Brighton and Hove : The greatest actor of his day lived at Royal Crescent in Brighton for many years in the Sixties and Seventies. He had two houses knocked together in this fashionable seafront street but resented criticism when he applied, perfectly legally, for a conservation grant. Olivier’s best known battle in Brighton was in 1972 when he fought to save kippers on the breakfast of the Brighton Belle express train to London. He won the battle but lost the war. The kippers remained but the train itself was axed later that year. Eventually Olivier and his wife Joan Plowright moved to the country and lived near Steyning. Olivier achieved fame for a wide variety of roles on stage and screen ranging from Shakespearean heroes to Archie Rice in the Entertainer by John Osborne.

817 Dennis Trident - carried name since delivery in May 1999, originally named Lord Olivier, then changed to Lord Lawrence Olivier (error!) during July 1999, then back to Lord Olivier, originally on METRO Line 1 then repainted into new livery from March 2004 and then new METRO Line 1 livery from April 2004, in March 2005 repainted into standard livery. March 2012 name transferred to new Volvo Gemini 435 on Route 1. Bus reapinted into Regency livery July 2016.